I bought a new Black Country saddle in vintage leather and every time I ride my breeches are stained all over from the leather dye. The saddle itself still looks okay but I can’t afford to keep ruining breeches. It has been a year and after frequent cleaning and conditioning nothing has changed. Has anyone else had the problem? What can I do to fix this? I would like to avoid having to ship it all the way back to the company if the is something I can do.
My new CWD buffalo saddle also leaves lovely skid marks on the front of my breeches. It’s way worse when I condition the saddle, so maybe try not cleaning or conditioning the seat so much.
If there’s a way to fix the dye, I’d love to hear about it.
I have a similar issue with my saddle. I started to just use darker breeches to school in and keep my beige ones for showing. Doesn’t really fix the problem but at least i’m not ruining breeches anymore.
If anyone has a solution I’s love to hear what it is.
I had this problem with my Devoucoux buffalo saddle. Devoucoux decided the saddle was defective and sent me another one which was better but still left stains. I ended up switching to the calfskin and the problem went away.
Dying leads to death.
I believe Dyeing is the present participle of Dye.
There are leather sealers available at places like Tandy Leather Supply that act as a clear coat. Get one that is matte or saddle may be slippery.
If there is a shoe repair near you they may have some for sale.
Try lots of saddle soap to clean, then Bee Natural beeswax leather finish to seal the leather. http://ehub41.webhostinghub.com/~miomip5/beenaturalleathercare.com/shop.html?devicelock=desktop#!/Leather-Finish-8oz/p/35500427/category=9139962
So my new Antares saddle was killing my show breeches, so “dying” or “dyeing” both make sense to me. 
On the advice of the saddle fitter, I let the saddle sit in the sun for a few hours. I am not sure if it really set the dye or it just dried things out a bit, either way the saddle felt great and the problem was solved.
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That’s my thought exactly on the dyeing part. But I was always told to keep leather out of the sun as it ages leather in a bad way.
i made sure to clean it with saddle soap with glycerin but what contains beeswax? I took it to a repair shop that said it has to do with how the leather was made. Like they oiled it before they dyed it or something. Vintage leather is advertised as “never needs oiled”. But why would they make something that would rub off like that?
I had this problem with a previous Antares and never found a true fix (ditched it in less than a year for other issues) - however, I did find that Oxy Clean and prompt washing did a very good job for the stains; my less cotton-y breeches washed up better than the more knitted ones (e.g. Tailoreds came clean easy, Pipers not so much); and conditioning the saddle, particularly with the Antares conditioner it came with, greatly exacerbated the situation. Cleaning with castille soap helped pull some of the dye out, though it will dry it more than glycerine. Time will take care of it eventually if you can hang until then.
Has anyone heard of resolene? That is supposed to be a sealant but I’m hesitant to try as I know nothing about it
the product I linked to contains beeswax and will seal the dye in better after cleaning.
Passier ledersbalm contains beeswax which I think is what makes it sticky tacky but I don’t know if it would help. You can get pure beeswax for polishing antque furniture.
I was having this issue with my new (to me) Equipe saddle, and called the rep and she advised me to quit cleaning it with any glycerin based soaps- that the glycerin is too strong for the calfskin and would strip the dye. She said it would likely tcontinue to bleed for a few more rides in the meantime, but shoud stop. She suggested to only wipe down with a damp sponge after my rides and to oil with olive oil as needed.
Yeah but the product I linked to is designed to go on saddles to seal and shine them. I’ve used it on a saddle seat and a breastcollar I dyed black and I had no dye rub off
Does the beeswax come off on clothing though? How often do you have to reapply it (does it wear off auickly)?
The saddlery I purchased this from suggested making sure the soap had glycerin. I’ve heard both to use soap with glycerin because it seals leather and not to use it because it dries and seals leather. Big contradiction there. It didn’t really work anyway. Still rubs off like crazy.
I used this to seal a saddle after I stripped and dyed it. It’s an acrylic layer. So, it’ll be squeaky and shiny, like you painted it with acrylic, because you did. I don’t think I’d want to put it on a saddle under circumstances, from my experience with it.
I’ve been fighting this problem for a long time. Also fighting the sweat mark on the saddle itself. Best thing I’ve done so far is to wipe the saddle down with a damp cloth or sponge after every sweat producing ride. I don’t clean it more than once a month or so and maybe once or twice a year I’ll condition again. It’s working so far but all my breeches already have a slight dye mark in the butt. I fear that it’s inevitable.
